My Understanding of 4:15-16
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The world as God has made it is a miracle. It is my experience and observation that no matter what wrong we may have done, once it is done, from that situation which our wrong brought about, there open possibilities to do right that were not there before the wrong. That is the miracle, wrong is wrong, but once you have the result of your wrong doings, with that you can do unforeseen rights, and that is a reason I guess, why God allows us to do wrong.
No matter where we are, where we come from, what we have right now in our hands is full of hope, is pregnant with something that can redeem us. We must look forward, God is so very generous. We just have to be quiet and see and listen and be honest and open. Whatever good we get is never us, it is a Gift for which we must be open, and however bitter it seems to us at a given moment, we must be patiente opening the package, because at the core of it there is always a gem.
Salaam, and may God bless those who strive
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The world as God has made it is a miracle. It is my experience and observation that no matter what wrong we may have done, once it is done, from that situation which our wrong brought about, there open possibilities to do right that were not there before the wrong. That is the miracle, wrong is wrong, but once you have the result of your wrong doings, with that you can do unforeseen rights, and that is a reason I guess, why God allows us to do wrong.
No matter where we are, where we come from, what we have right now in our hands is full of hope, is pregnant with something that can redeem us. We must look forward, God is so very generous. We just have to be quiet and see and listen and be honest and open. Whatever good we get is never us, it is a Gift for which we must be open, and however bitter it seems to us at a given moment, we must be patiente opening the package, because at the core of it there is always a gem.
Salaam, and may God bless those who strive
Im actually printing you post off and putting it on my fridge ....if thats ok.....I need this reminder daily....
kind of makes me a bit teary.....in a good way, cos I know that you are right and I know that God is so poignant............. -
I just read Yuksel's commentary on 415 . His understanding of 415 is similar to mine. I disagree with his theory that the witnesses mentioned in 415 can be organic nitrogenous bases (A, T, G and C) and his theory that the punishment prescribed in 415 is for prostitutes who've been convicted four times, but I agree with the rest of his interpretation. Like Yuksel, I believe that Quranic laws apply only to those who willingly come under Islamic jurisdiction (541-52 and 1096) and that 415 is about prostitutes. I also learned something new from his commentary. I learnt that Alathani, which appears in 416, can mean a man and a woman, or two men.
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I think the fact that the word Alathani (which appears in 416) means "Two men" as well as "A man and a woman" is important because it connects 416 with 415 even more since women are mentioned in 415 and I think God chose the word Alathani (instead of all the other words It could've used) for another reason too to indicate that prostitution is illegal for men too. Alathani is slightly vague, which I believe is the reason why God chose it because it's use allows several meanings to be conveyed succinctly.
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I agree with that. In fact it matches what I would expect from the Quran rather that the lose and non-commital jail them at home till somehow aan earthquake breaks the walls. Prostitution is not usually doen out of choice but out of need and for lack of a better issue. To take the women off the street is a way to protect them from something they themselves couldn't. I don't think it is a question of keeping them jailed till they die, because no punishment can be open like, that with the choice that may be something else happens. Rather than of a punishment what it seems to be talking about is how to keep them from going back to the same thing again. That it is necessary to have four witnesses is again to show that you cannot go about brandishing words that may speak ill of somebody and that if you say something so damaging for somebody's reputation that it is indeed a public thing. To me it makes more sense than homosexual acts interpretation.
Salaam
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I agree with that. In fact it matches what I would expect from the Quran rather that the lose and non-commital jail them at home till somehow aan earthquake breaks the walls. Prostitution is not usually doen out of choice but out of need and for lack of a better issue. To take the women off the street is a way to protect them from something they themselves couldn't. I don't think it is a question of keeping them jailed till they die, because no punishment can be open like, that with the choice that may be something else happens. Rather than of a punishment what it seems to be talking about is how to keep them from going back to the same thing again. That it is necessary to have four witnesses is again to show that you cannot go about brandishing words that may speak ill of somebody and that if you say something so damaging for somebody's reputation that it is indeed a public thing. To me it makes more sense than homosexual acts interpretation.
Salaam
True. Prostitutes are often the victims of crimes. Quite a few of the prostitutes in developed countries come from third world countries and these prostitutes were tricked into prostitution. Many of them were desperate to find work, so they trusted people who told them that they'll find them respectable jobs like waitressing etc., but when they were taken abroad, they were beaten, raped and then forced to become prostitutes. I think God wants us to put them under protective custody till they can find respectable jobs, or find any other way out of prostitution.